From: Ian Collier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>On Thu, Jul 29, 1999 at 12:56:06PM +0100, Nick Humphries wrote: >> From: Ian Collier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> > How much does an 0800 call actually >> >cost the company? > >> The trick appears to be to not use an 0800 number. > >As has been pointed out, I was referring to the BT service which does use an >0800 number. If BT Internet doesn't pay a charge to the teleco branch of BT >for the use of this 0800 number then, from what I understand, this could be >viewed as unfair competition. (I am working more or less on hearsay evidence >though, I should admit.) Hmmm. I can't really see what the fuss is about if BT internet services use their own 0800 numbers myself. >> So long as you keep records >> of who accesses from where for how long and what deal they have (Claranet >> already does this for one of their tariffs), you can pass this info on to BT >> who'll make the correct deductions from your bill. > >But then you presumably have to pay BT to do this, so where do you get >the cash from? The _extra_ money you pay on top of the normal monthly subscription fee to get the "free" phone calls. I'd be willing to bet that BT gets the lions share of this money. Maybe it's a compromise. Consider this: how much business would BT lose out on if ClaraNET did this with another telco instead of BT? ClaraNET wins because it gets more customers because they want "free phone calls". BT wins because it gets SOME money instead of losing that bit of business to a competitor. >Is this scheme necessarily cheaper than just using an >0800 number, Don't know. My gut feeling says "yes". Nick
